Our Ten Favourite Phil is not on fire Moments

Grab your Sharpies and get those cat whiskers on!

We love everything about November: the pre-Christmas buzz, the orange hue of autumn, the lingering smell of pumpkin spice, the promise of marshmallows at a bonfire and, most importantly, Daniel Howell and Phil Lester‘s annual installment of Phil is not on fire!

Dan and Phil’s whiskered escapades have been a staple of the Phandom’s calendar since 2009, gifting us with countless memes, in-jokes and whisker-based selfies, but what a boring world we’d be in without it! It’s hard to believe this series will be in its tenth edition this year, so to celebrate we’ve picked out 10 of the best PINOF moments!

The tattoos we all wish we had

Phil is not on fire 9 brought us many wonderfully strange moments, but the boys drawing a Sharpie-tattoo on each other still amuses us. Whether it’s a drawing of your inner animal (we here at TenEighty HQ like to think we’d all be beautiful unicorns) or a surprisingly good drawing of your best friend’s face, we’d love to have Dan and Phil’s artwork on our arms forever.

EXPOSED

PINOF 7 is potentially one of our favourites and it was tricky to pinpoint any particular moment, so you’ll see it a lot on this list. Our first moment from this instalment was the task of explaining a random photo from their camera rolls. In typical fashion, Phil’s photo was too pure and was simply an admiration of nature. Dan’s on the other hand… Well, can we really blame him for a selfie? If this moment didn’t sum them up, we don’t know what does!

Revenge was truly on the cards in PINOF 9 and we’re hoping we’ll have a part three this year!

Interpretive dance of 2016

We always knew Dan and Phil had some moves, but when challenged to create an interpretive dance of 2016, they just as much confirmed our suspicions.

2016 was, well, a bad year and we reckon throwing some shapes is always the best way to forget! Between the two, we think Phil’s interpretation was a more accurate representation. (Sorry, Dan! In hindsight, we think you were accurate interpreting 2017.)

That stress mushroom

Sorry, we had to include this moment! (Apologies to those still somewhat traumatised!) It was the stress ball that made us all slightly more stressed, so we were thankful to see it become victim to a good old game of tug-of-war… Even if Dan’s screams of horror continue to echo around our heads. Hilarious and horrific in equal measure, we always come back to watch this – we just hope Phil now owns a more appealing stress ball.

The best friend handshake

Is there a force more powerful than a unique handshake between best friends? We don’t think so! Dan and Phil’s handshake was quick, strong and packed a few punches – we couldn’t get enough of it! Now, we don’t know about you, but we’ve been practising this with our best friend, with arguably more success than the repeat attempt in the following year’s bloopers. Here’s hoping they’ve been practising!

Dan the fireman

Another gem from PINOF 8 is when one fan asked Dan and Phil to try picking each other up. We honestly didn’t expect this would be a successful moment, given lifting another human being off the ground is EXERCISE, so we were relieved to see Dan heave Phil over this shoulder, without dropping him, and promise to rescue him from the metaphorical burning building. Who needs Fireman Sam when you have Fireman Dan? We expect there’s a fireman-themed fanfic lurking on the internet somewhere.

Dan recreates Kristen Stewart’s pose

Personally, we’re surprised Dan’s not yet been featured on the cover of Vogue, so until that happens we’ll enjoy this moment from PINOF 4. Dan’s recreation of Kristen Stewart’s Vogue photoshoot was frighteningly accurate and hilarious – we vividly remember it was impossible to log onto Tumblr and NOT see it meme’d in some way by the Phandom! Can someone give him a modelling contract already?!

This brief glimpse at an alternate universe

When we think of Phil, we instantly think of his pure innocence, cheesy jokes and colourful aesthetic, and one thing we never thought we’d see is him in head-to-toe black clothing. (OK, in fairness, he still probably had colourful mismatched socks!) PINOF 5 broke our illusion when Phil was instructed to wear Dan’s infamous leather t-shirt. Phil’s expression of confusion and disgust was too precious and summed up nearly all of our reactions. Phandom, why did you make him do this?

Thankfully, PINOF 9 allowedPhil to get his own back when they had to dress the other in an outfit!

LADDERS

Who knew a song about ladders would be so catchy?! We still want a full version of this and we think the Phandom does too, considering how many renditions we’ve seen at various live shows – complete, of course, with the hand dance. *Hums Ladders into distance*

Where it all began…

Aww, they both look so young in this! The video that started it all will always be a firm favourite for us. They’re innocent and adorably clueless to the gem series they had on their hands! Looking back on this now, it’s completely heartwarming to see how much Dan and Phil have grown as creators and individuals. It makes us feel like proud parents.

So there you have it…

Just some of our top moments from the last nine years of PINOF! Here’s to at least 10 more installments! (And 10 more after that… Actually, we hope Dan and Phil never stop making the series!) The cat whiskers really do come from within!